Listed 15 sub titles with search on: Information about the place for wider area of: "MESSINI Province MESSINIA" .
ITHOMI (Acropolis) MESSINIA
Pausanias claims that it is the Messenian Ithome that Homer includes in the List of Ships (Paus. 4,9,2). The truth is, however, that the Ithome mentioned by Homer must be a town in Thessaly, since it is mentioned along with other Thessalic towns (Ekd. Athinon, Pausaniou Periegissis, vol. 3, p.57, note 1).
Eth. Andanieus, Andanios. An ancient town of Messenia, and the capital of the kings of the race of the Leleges. It was celebrated as the birthplace of Aristomenes, but towards the end of the second Messenian war it was deserted by its inhabitants, who took refuge in the strong fortress of Ira. From this time it was only a village. Livy describes it as a parvum oppidum, and Pausanias saw only its ruins. It was situated on the road leading from Messene to Megalopolis. Its ruins, according to Leake, are now called Ellinikokastro, and are situated upon a height near the village of Fyla or Filia. The Homeric Oechalia is identified by Strabo with Andania, but by Pausanias with Carnasium, which was only 8 stadia from Andania.
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited May 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
MESSINI (Ancient city) ITHOMI
(Eth. and Adj. Messenios: Adj. Messeniakos). The later capital of
Messenia, built under the direction of Epaminondas in B.C. 369. (Diod. xv. 66;
Paus. iv. 27.) The name of Messene had been applied in ancient times to the country
inhabited by the Messenians; but there was no city of this name till the one founded
by Epaminondas. The Thebans and their allies assisted the Messenians in building
it; and the best architects and masons were invited from all Greece to lay out
the city with regularity, and to arrange and construct properly the temples and
other public buildings. Epaminondas also took especial pains with the fortifications,
which were regarded by Pausanias as the most perfect in Greece. The walls, as
well as the towers and bulwarks, were built entirely of stone; and the excellence
and solidity of the masonry are still apparent in the existing remains. (Paus.
iv. 31. § 5.) The foundation of the city was attended with great pomp and the
celebration of solemn sacrifices. First, sacrifices were offered by Epaminondas,
who was recognised as Oekist or Founder, to Dionysus and Apollo Ismenius, - by
the Argives to the Argive Hera and Zeus Nemeius, - by the Messenians to Zeus Ithomatas
and the Dioscuri. Next, prayer was offered to the ancient Heroes and Heroines
of the Messenian nation, especially to the warrior Aristomenes, that they would
come back and take up their abode in the new city. After this, the ground was
marked out and the building begun, under the sound of Argive and Boeotian flutes,
playing the strains of Pronomus and Sacadas. (Paus. iv. 28. § 6; Grote's Greece,
vol. ix. p. 309.) The history of this town is related under Messenia so that it
is only necessary in this place to give an account of its topography.
Messene is situated upon a rugged mountain, which rises between the
two great Messenian plains, and which thus commands the whole country. This mountain,
about half-way up, divides into two summits, of which the northern was called
Ithome and the southern Eva. The sharp ridge connecting them is about half a mile
in length. Mt. Ithome is one of the most striking objects in all Peloponnesus.
It rises to the height of 2631 feet, or more than 700 feet higher than the Acrocorinthus;
but it looks much loftier than it really is, in consequence of its precipitous
sides and isolated position. Upon this summit the Acropolis of Messene was built;
but the city itself was situated in a hollow somewhat in the form of a shell,
extending on the west side of the sharp ridge which connects Ithome and Eva. The
city was connected by a continuous wall with its acropolis. There are considerable
remains of the ancient city, and the walls may still be traced in the greater
part of their extent. They are most perfect on the northern side, with the. Arcadian
or Megalopolitan gate in the centre. They may be followed up to the summit of
Ithome, and then along the ridge connecting Ithome and Eva ; but here towards
the south-east traces of them are sometimes lost. In this part, however, the foundations
of the eastern or Laconian gate, as it has been called, are clearly seen. The
summit of Mt. Eva was evidently not included within the city walls. The direction
of the southern wall is most uncertain. From the eastern gate to the ruins, which
are supposed to be those of the southern gate, and near which the present road
runs to the southern Messenian plain, no line of walls can be traced; but on the
western side the walls may again be clearly followed. The circumference of the
walls is about 47 stadia, or nearly 6 English miles ; but it includes a large
space altogether unfit for the site of buildings; and the great extent was doubtless
intended to receive a part of the surrounding population in time of war.
The space included within the city-walls now consists of corn-fields
and pastures amidst woods of wild olive and oak. Nearly in the centre of the ancient
town is the modern village of Mavromati ; and near the southern gate, at the foot
of Mount Eva, are two poor villages, named Simissa. On the eastern slope of Mount
Eva is the monastery of Vurkano, embossed in cypress and orange groves, and one
of the most elegant and picturesque structures of this class in Greece.
The northern gate, leading to Megalopolis in Arcadia (Paus. iv. 33.
§ 3), is one of the finest specimens of Greek military architecture in existence.
Its form is seen in the preceding plan. It is a small fortress, containing double
gates opposite to one another, and connected by a circular court of 62 feet in
diameter. In front of the outer gate on either side is a strong rectangular tower.
Upon entering the court through the outer gate, there is a niche on each side
for a statue, with an inscription over it. The one on the left hand is still legible,
and mentions Quintus Plotius Euphemion as the restorer (Bockh, Inscr. No. 1460).
Pausanias (iv. 33. § 3) notices in this gate a Hermes in the Attic style, which
may possibly have stood in one of these niches. Leake observes that the interior
masonry of the circular court is the most exact and beautiful he ever saw. The
lower course is a row of stones, each about 5 1/2 in length and half as much in
height; upon this is placed another course of stones of equal length and of half
the height, the joints of which are precisely over the centre of each stone in
the lower course. The upper part of the walls has fallen: nine courses are the
most that remain. Neither gateway retains its covering, but the flat architrave
of the inner one lies in an oblique position upon the ruins of the wall by which
it was formerly supported; it measures 18 feet 8 inches in length by 4 feet 2
inches in breadth, and 2 feet 10 inches in thickness. The road still leads through
this gate into the circuit of the ancient city. The ruins of the towers, with
the interjacent curtains, close to the gate on the slope of Mount Ithome, show
this part of the fortifications to have resembled a chain of strong redoubts,
each tower constituting a fortress of itself. A flight of steps behind the curtain
led to a door in the flank of the tower at half its height. The upper apartment,
which was entered by the door, had a range of loopholes, or embrasures, on a line
with the door, looking along the parapet of the curtain, and was lighted by two
windows above. The embrasures, of which there are some in each face of the towers,
have an opening of 7 inches within, and of 3 feet 9 inches without, so that, with
a small opening, their scope is very great. The windows appear to be too high
for any purpose but to give light. Both the curtains and towers in this part of
the walls are constructed entirely of large squared blocks, without rubble or
cement. The curtains are 9 feet thick. The inner face of the towers has neither
door nor window. The tower next to the gate of Megalopolis has had all the stones
disjointed, like those of the Propylaea at Athens, probably by an earthquake.
The towers are in general about 25 feet square, projecting about 14 feet from
a curtain varying in length according to the nature of the ground, and 8 or 10
feet in thickness. The masonry was not in general such as has been described at
the towers near the gate of Megalopolis, but, as in most Greek works of defence,
consisted of an exterior and interior facing of that kind of masonry filled up
with rubble.
In describing Messene, Pausanias first mentions the Agora, which contained
a fountain called Arsinoe, supplied by a subterraneous canal from the source named
Clepsydra. In the Agora, probably in the centre, was a statue of Zeus Soter. The
various temples, which he then proceeds to enumerate, either surrounded the Agora,
or were in its immediate neighbourhood. These were temples of Poseidon and Aphrodite;
a marble statue of the mother of the gods, the work of Damophon, who also made
the statue of Artemis Laphria; a temple of Eileithyia, a sacred building of the
Curetes, and a sanctuary of Demeter, containing statues of the Dioscuri. But the
temple of Asclepius contained the greatest number of statues, all of which were
made by Damophon. The temple of Messene contained her statue in gold and Parian
marble, while the back part was adorned with pictures representing the Messenian
heroes and kings. A building, called Hierosythium, contained statues of all the
gods worshipped by the Greeks. Pausanias next mentions the gymnasium, with statues
made by Aegyptian artists, a pillar bearing a figure of Aethidas in relief, and
the monument of Aristomenes, - the stadium containing a brazen statue of Aristomenes;
and lastly, the theatre, with the adjoining temple of Serapis and Isis. The fountain
called Clepsydra occurs in ascending to the summit of Ithome. On the summit was
a temple of Zeus Ithomatas; and an annual festival, called Ithomaea, was celebrated
in honour of the god. (Paus. iv. 31. § 6 - iv. 33. § 2.)
The Agora must have stood near the modern village of Mavromati, in
the neighbourhood of which most of the foundations of the ancient buildings are
found. The rivulet, which now runs unconfined through the village, was in ancient
times conducted through a subterraneous canal, and formed the fountain Arsinoe
mentioned above. The modern village has derived its name from the spring, - Mavromati
meaning Black Spring or Black Eye. South of the site of the Agora are the ruins
of the stadium, of which the upper or circular end and more than half of one of
the sides still remain. The rivulet of Mavromati now runs through the length of
the stadium. The stadium was surrounded by a colonnade, which was double at the
upper end: here the lower parts of the columns are in their original places; there
were about twenty in each row, 1 foot 10 inches in diameter, with Doric flutings.
Part of the colonnade, on the right side of the stadium, is likewise in its place,
and on the left side is the foundation of a public edifice, where are many pieces
of columns of the same description as the colonnade round the stadium. Perhaps
this was the Hierothysium. The stone seats of the stadium did not extend its whole
length, but about two-thirds only; at the circular end, they are most perfect.
(Leake.) Immediately south of the stadium is a wall, which appears to have been
part of the walls of the city. In this wall a small temple is built, like a kind
of tower. Between the stadium and the village of Mavromati, to the west of the
rivulet, are the remains of a small theatre, about 60 feet in diameter. North
of the stadium the slope is divided into terraces, of which the supporting walls
still remain. Here some of the temples mentioned by Pausanias probably stood.
In ascending Mount Ithome, there is about half way up a terrace of
considerable size, which commands a fine view of the Messenian gulf. Here the
French Commission discovered some ruins overgrown with shrubs, which appear to
have been an Ionic temple facing the east, containing a porch with two columns
and a cella. This was probably a temple of Artemis, as an inscription here found
contains the names of Messenians, who had held the priesthood of Artemis Limnatis,
and the remains of the statue discovered in the cella appear to be those of this
goddess. Below the temple are two smaller terraces ; and 60 feet further sideways,
WSW. of the temple, is a kind of grotto cut out of the rock, with a portico, of
which there are remains of five pillars. This was, perhaps, intended to receive
the water of the fountain Clepsydra, which Pausanias mentions in his ascent to
the summit of the mountain. The summit itself is a small flat surface, extending
from SE. to NW. On the northern and eastern sides the wall runs along the edge
of the perpendicular cliffs, and some remains of a more ancient masonry may be
perceived, which probably belonged to the earlier fortifications of Messene. At
the northern and broader end of the summit are the deserted buildings of the monastery
of Vurkano; this was undoubtedly the site of the temple of Zeus Ithomatas. There
is a magnificent view from the summit. Along the northern boundary of the horizon
the Lycaean range extends ; to the east are seen the mountains now named Makryplai,
which unite with the range of Taygetum; to the north-west the sea-coast between
the rivers Cyparisseeis and Neda is visible; while to the south the mouth of the
Pamisus and the Messenian gulf are spread open to view.
The similarity of Ithome to Acrocorinthus is noticed by Strabo (viii.
p. 361). He observes, that both are lofty and precipitous mountains, overhanging
their respective cities, but connected with them by a common line of fortifications.
Messene continued to exist in the later times of the Roman empire, as we learn
from inscriptions ; but in the middle ages it had ceased to be a place of any
importance; and hence the ancient remains have been less disturbed by the hands
of man than in most other parts of Greece.
This text is from: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography (1854) (ed. William Smith, LLD). Cited June 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ITHOMI (Acropolis) MESSINIA
Ithome. A fortress of Messenia, on a mountain of the same name. It was celebrated
for the long and obstinate defence (ten years) which the Messenians there made
in their last revolt against the Spartans. The mountain was said to have derived
its name from Ithome, one of the nymphs that nourished Zeus. On the summit was
the altar of Zeus Ithometes, to whom the mountain was especially dedicated. Strabo
compares the Messenian Acropolis to the Acrocorinthus, being situated, like that
citadel, on a lofty and steep mountain, enclosed by fortified lines which connected
it with the town. Hence these were justly deemed the two strongest places in the
Peloponnesus. When Philip, the son of Demetrius, was planning the conquest of
the peninsula with Demetrius of Pharos, the latter advised him to seize first
the horns of the heifer, which would secure to him possession of the animal. By
these enigmatical expressions he designated the Peloponnesus and the two strongholds
above mentioned. Remains of the ancient fortress still exist, the towers being
magnificent specimens of military architecture and engineering.
This text is cited Sep 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ANDROUSSA (Small town) MESSINIA
Androusa is a small town between contemporary Messini and the ancient
one, built on the highlands, with a view of the Messinian valley.
It was founded by Goulielmo Villeardouino and constituted a base for
the Hegemony and the Courts of justice, as well as a recreation area for the Frank
Knights during the domination by the Franks(1205-1430).
In the mid 13th century Villeardouinos built its castle, remnants
of which are still found today, which was abandoned during the period of the Second
Turkish rule(1715-1821).In 1308 it became the base of the Episcopal with the Decree
of Patriarch Athanasios (1304-1310) who was from Androusa. It developed as a big
agricultural centre passing from the Franks to the Navarrae and from the Byzantines
to the Turks and constituted one of the 24 provinces of Morea. During the Turkish
rule, many Greeks from Androusa became guerrillas, fighting for freedom, while
the bishop of Androusa, Joseph, became the first Minister of Education and Religion
of the newly established Greek Country after the Revolution of 1821.
Today it is a honorary municipality and constitutes an agricultural
centre for the area where oil, figs, raisins and wine are widely produced. The
Byzantine monuments of the area, like the byzantine castle, the Monastery (for
men) and the church of St. Samarina, as well as the ancient reservoir which are
an example of its historical passage through the byzantine years, are an attraction
for many visitors every year.
This text is cited March 2003 from the Messenia Prefecture Tourism Promotion Commission URL below, which contains image.
MELIGALAS (Small town) MESSINIA
Meligalas constitutes the agricultural centre of Upper Messinia and
is found in the centre of its fertile and all green valley, in the area where
according to the ancient, 2nd century A.D. tradition, the king and queen of Messinia
Polycaon and Meropi had their base.
During the 11th century B.C., that’s where the small Kingom (=polisma)
of King Kresfondi and his queen Meropi was created and where, in 459 B.C, was
a fierce battle between Spartans and Messinians who made a heroic exit from the
Acropolis of Ithomi. The first settlement in the area of the contemporary Meligalas
was built during the decay of Byzantio and it had been a fief of the Byzantine
lord Meligala after whom it was also named.
As a town, it developed during the domination by the Franks and the
Eneti through which the promotion of the agricultural products of Upper Messinia
took place.
The bridge of Mavrozoumena is a monument of this era which was built
in the 4th and restored in the 12th century A.D.
Meligalas took part in the Revolution of 1821 with the recruiting
of men and the offering of provisions.
Today, it constitutes an administrative and commercial centre of the
area of Upper Messinia.
This text is cited March 2003 from the Messenia Prefecture Tourism Promotion Commission URL below, which contains image.
MESSINI (Town) MESSINIA
The contemporary town has 7000 inhabitants and it’s built on the right
bank of the river Pamisos where «Makaria Ge» used to be in antiquity. The surrouniding
area has been inhabited since the Protohellenic Era (2600-2200 B.C), as the findings
in the area Mexa of Bouka prove. It was inhabited in the Late Hellenic Era (1580-1120
B.C) too as the chambered tombs which are dug in the peremeter of the hill, prove.
In 900 A.D. it is built by the Melissinous where «Panigyristra» is today. The
flooded river of Pamisos around Melissopyrgos gives the impression of an island
which gives Messini its nickname; «Nisi» (=island).
This nickname first appears in texts written during the Frank domination
(1205-1430) and it’s kept until today. During the french chronicle of Moreas,
«Nisi» is mentioned as the favourite place of the legendary Frank-Greek the Velleardouini
Princess Isabella, the owner of Morias, known as Princess Izambo.
In 1770, the last action of the Orlof revolutionary actions is recorded.
The remnants of Melissopyrgos are blown up and the last fighters, under the leadership
of Yiannis (John) Mavromichalis, like George Flessas and John Kolokotronis, grandfathers
of the Heroes of the 1821 Revolution Papaflessas and Kolokotronis, met a tragic
but heroic death.
During the Revolution in 1821, Nisi participates with Kalamata, shares
the expenses for the organisation and the training of the army, while in 1825,
it will be completely destroyed by Ibrahem Pasha. In 1833, the Episcopal of Messini
is founded and in 1867 the city is officially named «Messini».
The contemporary city bases its economy on agriculture. Oil, raisins,
potatoes and early vegetables are grown, while the area is rapidly developing
in terms of tourism with the creation of infrastructure at the beaches of «Bouka»,
Analipsi and Velika.
This extract is cited March 2003 from the Messenia Prefecture Tourism Promotion Commission URL below, which contains image.
A titular see, suffragan to Corinth.
Under this name at least, the city dates only from the fourth century B.C. When
Epaminondas had crushed the Spartans at Leuctra,
he recalled the scattered Messenians and caused them to build, on the slopes of
Mount Ithome, a new capital
which they called Messene (370 B.C.). The fortified walls surrounding this city
were over five and a half miles in length, and were accounted the best in Greece.
The portion of them which still remains justifies this reputation.
Christianity early took root there, though only a few of its bishops
are known. At the beginning of the tenth century the “Notitia episcopatuum”
of Leo the Wise gives Messene as an independent archbishopric; and the same is
true for the beginning of the fourteenth century. As this diocese does not figure
in the “Notitia” of the fifteenth century, it may be assumed that
it had then ceased to exist.
The little village of Mavromati,
now stands upon the ruins of ancient Messene.
S. Vailhe, ed.
Transcribed by: Anthony J. Stokes
This extract is cited June 2003 from The Catholic Encyclopedia, New Advent online edition URL below.
MELIGALAS (Small town) MESSINIA
The chief town of Upper Messenia, already occupied in prehistoric
times. Not far to the W is the Mavrozoumenos Bridge, just above the confluence
of the Leukasia and Amphitos (Vivari) forming the Pamisos river. The triple bridge
spans the two streams and runs back as a causeway on the low-lying tongue of land
between them. There are seven arches and one rectangular opening, which is ancient.
Below the Turkish masonry, the foundations of the piers and six courses of one
arch are also ancient; the stones are not voussoirs but are corbeled to the arch
shape.
M. H. Mc Allister, ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Nov 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
MESSINI (Ancient city) ITHOMI
The name Messene anciently referred to the area of Messenia (Hom.
Od. 21.15), and only gradually came to denote the city founded after the battle
of Leuktra. The city was in ancient times as it is today called Ithome, and lies
in and around the modern town of Mavromati. The building of the city was begun
in early 379 (Paus. 4.27.9), and Messene was stable enough to take part in the
battle of Mantinea in 362 on the Theban side (Xen. Hell. 7.5.5). Never strong
enough by itself to withstand Spartan hostility, it later sided with Philip (Paus.
4.28.2), who increased Messenian territory by adding Denthaliatis and the area
from Pherai to Leuktron (Polyb. 9.28.7, Strab. 8.4.6). Messene remained more or
less allied to Macedon into the 3d c. About 244 the city formed an alliance with
the Aitolian League, but fear of Kleomenes brought it closer to the Achaian League
(223-222), which in turn brought about plundering by the Aitolians in 220 (Polyb.
4.3.5-6.12). Civil unrest in 215-214 brought the intervention of Philip V (Polyb.
7.10-14) and a return to the Aitolian League (Polyb. 9.30.6). It was attacked
by Nabis of Sparta in 201 (Polyb. 16.13.3, 16.16-17), then allied itself with
Antiochos in 192 against the Achaian League and Rome. After the defeat of Antiochos
Messene was compelled to join the Achaian League (Livy 36.3 1.1-9) from which
it revolted in 183/182 (Polyb. 23.12). Forced to rejoin the league it nonetheless
sent no troops to the war against Rome in 146 (Polyb. 38.16.3). Prosperous but
not powerful thereafter (IG V 1.1432-33), the last emperor it honored inscriptionally
was Constantine (IG V 1.1420), though sculptural finds date even from the 5th
c. Pausanias (4.31.4-33.4) visited the area in the 2d c. A.D.
The glory of Messene is its walls, the best preserved in Greece,
and the strongest of antiquity (Paus. 4.31.5). They enclose an area of 9 km, including
the summit of Mt. Ithome, are constructed entirely of stone, and consist of a
curtain wall (2-2.5 m thick) and towers, square for the most part, at various
intervals. They are best preserved in the N and W sides. Four gates are known,
of which the Arkadian on the N is the best preserved and the architecturally most
remarkable. It consists of an outer gate (5.32 m wide) flanked by towers (6.5
m wide) opening into a nearly circular area (19.7 m wide) which could be controlled
by soldiers standing on the walls above. There are two niches on the N side of
the court, one recording repairs by Q. Plotius Euphemion. Some scholars have felt
that the gate may be later than the rest of the walls, though there is dispute
even as to whether the main part of the wall was constructed in the early 4th
c. or later, perhaps in the late 3d.
The acropolis, i.e. the peaks of Mt. Ithome, contains remains of
earlier walls dating either from the third Messenian War or from the foundation
of the city in the 4th c. The Sanctuary of Zeus Ithomatas is now covered by the
abandoned Vourkano monastery. On the slopes of Ithome are the remains of the Temple
of Artemis Limnatis of the Ionic order (17.2 x 10 m) and a spring, identified
by some with the Klepsydra. Others identify the Klepsydra with the spring in the
center of Mavromati.
Below the modern village there is to be found a Sanctuary of Asklepios
(epigraphically assured), a site which was for many years identified with the
agora: the agora remains to be located. The Aesklepieion consists of a large court
surrounded on all four sides by stoas with an internal colonnade (dimensions:
66.8 x 71.8 m measuring from the rear wall of the stoa). In the middle of the
court on the N-S axis, and facing due east, there are the foundations of a Hellenistic
temple of Doric order (13.6 x 27.9 m) of excellent workmanship which replaces
an earlier, 4th c. temple. The altar, constructed in two chronological phases,
lies to the E. The rear walls of the stoa are pierced in a number of places to
allow access to rooms connected with the worship of Asklepios. The E wall is bisected
by propylaea, to the N of which is a small theater; to the S, entrance is gained
to a square room with benches running around three sides, formerly identified
with the synedrion, but more likely to have been a library. On the W side there
are five small rooms, all apparently devoted to religious purposes, the northern-most
of which was a small Temple of Artemis Orthia. It is divided into three sections
by two sets of two columns on either side of the entrance. The N wall of the court
contains three stairways, the middle one of rather monumental proportions, leading
to an upper level, on which was the sebasteion, the area in which the worship
of the Roman emperors took place. In the NE corner of the stoa there is a small
room, perhaps originally designed as a fountain-house, but in Imperial times used
for the display of a large statue. Outside the S wall, and not integrally connected
with the interior, are to be found a small heroon (with four graves) and a house
with a peristyle court. Excavation in the area of the Asklepieion continues. Other
insignificant remains in the vicinity include a stadium and a theater.
W. F. Wyatt, Jr., ed.
This text is from: The Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites,
Princeton University Press 1976. Cited Sep 2002 from
Perseus Project URL below, which contains 26 image(s), bibliography & interesting hyperlinks.
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